The Competition was launched on 18 September by the International Chamber of Commerce Secretary General, John Danilovich, and the SDSN Southeast Asia network chair and Citi Group board member, Cherie Nursalim at the ‘Business for the SDGs’ event at UN Headquarters in New York. The event was held during UN General Assembly week, hosted by the International Chambers of Commerce, GSMA, UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs and the Government of Indonesia.

The island of Kura Kura Bali aims to be an “SDG Hotspot,” showcasing how solutions can be implemented to meet multiple SDGs. Due to the rich biodiversity and sensitive, closed, island ecosystem, Kura Kura Bali can be used to demonstrate the impacts of controlled solutions. The Kura Kura Bali Island of Happiness’ vision is to be a case study of an inclusive community with a focus on spiritual wellbeing and environmental sustainability. New technologies, for example renewable energy sources and microgrids, will be used to reduce energy use, minimize waste, and lower carbon emissions.

This first in a series of competitions invites innovators from all over the world to design a new type of sustainable seawall to protect the island from storm surges and sea level rise. Future competitions planned for Kura Kura Bali will focus on topics like green buildings, renewable energy solutions and sustainable mobility.

The competition is meant to encourage cross-sector thinking, multi-stakeholder collaboration, and inspire the next generation of innovators to consider the spillover impacts of their solutions. The seawall design that is selected for construction on Kura Kura Bali could also become a new standard for sustainable sea-edge treatments worldwide. A monetary award will be given to the winner next year at the global event Tri Hita Karana Forum on Sustainable Development, scheduled around the World Bank and International Monetary Fund annual meetings in Bali on 10 and 11 October, 2018.